NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-8-1) host the Lake Superior State Lakers (11-10-1) at the Compton Family Ice Arena with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can also catch the game online at NBC Sports Live Extra.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Jeff Jackson knows Lake Superior State quite well. Not only were the Irish and Lakers conference opponents in the CCHA, but Jackson coached the Lakers from 1990-1996 leading them to two national championships in 1992 and 1994.

Since then, the Lakers have faded from the national picture while the Irish have been a perennial threat to win it all since Jackson took over in 2005. This season, the Lakers are holding steady led by freshman forward Alex Globke whose eight goals and 21 points leads the team in both categories. Senior forward Colin Campbell and junior defenseman Kevin Czuczman are also guys to watch.

If Czuczman’s name seems familiar, it’s because you may have first heard about him in Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts this week (point No. 24) as a potential guy NHL teams are looking at. His seven goals and 15 points put him second on the team in each category but it’s his added toughness that’s getting teams to notice him as he leads the team with 48 penalty minutes.

The Lakers head into this weekend’s set against the Irish losers of six of their past eight games and were swept at home by Bemidji State last weekend.

The Fighting Irish, on the other hand, disposed of Alabama-Huntsville quietly last weekend by scores of 7-1 and 5-0. It was a big weekend for senior Bryan Rust as he had four goals and two assists in the two games. Senior T.J. Tynan also came up big with a goal and five assists.

Piling up points against college hockey’s worst team is one thing, but they’ll have to buckle down to deal with the Lakers. Yes, they’re struggling themselves of late but with the conference schedules about to start up again for the second half of the season, everyone wants to be ready for the stretch run.

NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-8-1) host the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (1-21-0) at the Compton Family Ice Arena with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can also catch the game online at NBC Sports Live Extra.

There’s quite the juxtaposition of circumstances on display in South Bend this weekend. Notre Dame heads into their two-game set with Alabama-Huntsville ranked 15th in the USCHO.com poll and sit eighth in Hockey East. The ranking is nice, but coach Jeff Jackson would certainly like his team to turn things up in the second half.

The Irish are coming off a thrilling loss to Boston College at Frozen Fenway in Boston last week. Having to contain both Bill Arnold and Johnny Gaudreau for a single game is asking a lot and it was Gaudreau who scored the game-winner midway through the third period.

Notre Dame has other issues, however. They have just two wins in their last seven games and one of those was a 5-2 victory against UAH in the Shillelagh Tournament. Losing to BC and UMass-Lowell is one thing, but splitting a weekend set with UMass before winter break doesn’t look so good. Goalie Steven Summerhays has held strong but they’ll need more from T.J. Tynan and Mario Lucia (pictured) if they’re going to storm into the Hockey East playoffs.

The Chargers, however, have had a rough go of it in their first season in the WCHA. They have the worst record in college hockey and their lone win came on the road at Bowling Green in overtime. UAH’s top scorer is freshman Matt Salhany with seven points. Their top goal man is sophomore forward Chad Brears with four.

As a team they’ve scored just 22 goals this season. Yes, they’re averaging exactly one goal per game. Ouch.

While goals have been hard to come by, goaltending has been a struggle as well as they split time between a pair of freshmen, Carmine Guerriero and Matt Larose. For first-year coach Mike Corbett, accommodating to life in Alabama has been a struggle. It sure beats having the program being on the brink of being eliminated though.

NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 6 Boston College Eagles (12-4-2) host the No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-7-1) at Fenway Park in Boston with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium won’t be the only outdoor hockey game with ties to college this week. It’s time for Frozen Fenway in Boston and the main event features a pair of powerhouse teams in Boston College and Notre Dame.

With BC involved, there’s plenty of talent to go around (10 NHL draft picks) but the biggest name is one of the smallest players in junior forward Johnny Gaudreau (pictured).

Gaudreau, a fourth-round pick by the Calgary Flames in 2011, is second in the nation in points with 33. His 15 goals put him behind just RPI junior forward Ryan Haggerty in that category. The remarkable part is he’s done all this in 18 games.

What makes BC scary is they’re not a one-player show. Seniors Kevin Hayes (Blackhawks) and Bill Arnold (Flames) are right there with Gaudreau in points and freshman Ryan Fitzgerald (Bruins – son of former NHLer Tom Fitzgerald) has arrived on the scene in a big way with 18 points.

The bad news for the Fighting Irish? BC is on a tear heading into the game. The Eagles have won four in a row and have outscored opponents 21-5 over that stretch. Aside from a couple of hiccup losses on the road to Maine and at home against Holy Cross, the Eagles have been more than worthy of their No. 6 ranking.

Notre Dame heads into the game having won just two out of the past six games. They’ve been off for almost a full month due to the holidays and finals and coach Jeff Jackson is hoping the time off will help them rebound.

Senior T.J. Tynan (Blue Jackets) has led the team with 15 points and sophomore forward Mario Lucia (Wild) leads in goals with nine. Offense has been a problem and they’ll have to go without freshman Vince Hinostroza (Blackhawks) who’s away with Team USA’s World Junior team.

That could spell trouble for the Irish as BC’s had strong goaltending this year. If the Irish want to surprise the Eagles, they’ll need senior Steven Summerhays to continue his strong play (9-6-1/.931/1.89). With an attack like BC has and the buzz that will be in the air at Fenway for this game, it sets the bar high for Summerhays to get the job done.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came out of last weekend with a split against the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers and now they’ll turn their attention to Hockey East conference play when they face Merrimack this weekend.

Both teams are early on in the conference schedule with the Irish being 1-1-0 and the Warriors sitting at 0-2-0. Things haven’t gone as well for Merrimack outside the conference either as they’re 3-5-0 there.

Senior forward Mike Collins and junior defenseman Dan Kolomatis have led the way in scoring with Collins leading the team with nine points. Kolomatis’ seven points from the blue line are encouraging, but they need more if they’re going to compete in conference. Freshman forward Chris LeBlanc is an Ottawa Senators draft pick (sixth-round 2013) and is off to a quiet start with a goal and two assists.

Where it counts for the Warriors is how they break things up in goal. Senior Sam Marrotta and junior Rasmus Tirronen have split starts this season with Marrotta having a slight 5-4 edge in games played. Tirronen has slightly better numbers, although his save percentage is a bit better than Marrotta’s. Both guys could see time against the Irish this weekend.

Speaking of the home team, freshman Vince Hinostroza (Chicago) and sophomore Mario Lucia (Minnesota) had strong weekends against the Gophers. Hinostroza had three assists in the two games and Lucia had two goals and an assist in Saturday’s 5-4 loss. Factor in defenseman Stephen Johns’ goal and two assists on the weekend and that makes for a strong performance all around.

The Irish will have to hope senior goalie Steven Summerhays can bounce back strong form Saturday’s tough overtime defeat. He played outstanding last Friday stopping 31 shots in the Irish’s 4-1 win, however. This season, however, he’s been quite good (7-2-0 .928 SV% 1.81 GAA). With how Merrimack’s offense has struggled, if the Fighting Irish can solve their two-headed goalie attack, things should turn out well.

NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers at the Compton Family Ice Arena with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also catch the game online.

We may be early in the college hockey season, but Friday night’s matchup between Notre Dame and Minnesota provides a possible NCAA tournament showdown.

Two top-five teams, loads of NHL-drafted talent (25 draftees in all), and two of the best coaches in the game will be on display. Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

Don Lucia’s Gophers head to South Bend hoping to stay unbeaten this season. With a 5-0-1 record, they’re one of two teams without a loss this season (St. Cloud State the other). After earning a tie and a win against Boston College two weeks ago, the Fighting Irish provide another early-season measuring stick for the Gophers.

Headlining Minnesota’s attack is junior forward Sam Warning. His five goals and 12 points both lead the team and he’s tied for eighth in the country in scoring. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t drafted. Their forward attack is deeper than just Warning.

Junior Kyle Rau (Florida) and freshmen Hudson Fasching (Los Angeles) and Justin Kloos have been steady in their production. The play of Fasching and Kloos have given the Gophers the kind of offense fitting of the No. 1 team in the country.

As for the Fighting Irish, they’re coming off two straight frustrating weekends in which they split with both Minnesota-Duluth and Vermont. While their record sits at 6-0-2, there’s no doubt coach Jeff Jackson wants more from his team. They’ll get the test they’re looking for out of the Gophers.

The Fighting Irish have a more balanced attack with seven players having five or more points early in the season. Freshman forward Vince Hinostrosza (Chicago) and senior forward T.J. Tynan (Columbus) lead the way with eight points each and sophomore forward Sam Herr leads the team in goals with five. On defense, Shane Tayker and Robbie Russo (New York Islanders) have five points each as well. We told you it was a balanced attack.

Goalies

Minnesota sophomore Adam Wilcox (Tampa Bay) has carried the load all season to this point and has been stellar with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. Expect him to get the call once again for the Gophers.

For Notre Dame, senior Steven Summerhays is their workhorse and he’s been just as good as Wilcox. He’s 6-1-0 this season with a 1.49 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.

Despite how steady both teams’ offenses have been, you get the feeling Friday’s game could be a showcase in net.